The Washburn Lady Blues have been picked to host the Central Region of the NCAA Division II tournament. The Lady Blues ( , MIAA) are coming off of a loss to Emporia State University in the semifinals of the MIAA tournament, but were still able to claim the No. 1-seed in the Central Region.

This is the second straight season the Blues will play host of a region. Last season Washburn was upset by ESU in the second round of the NCAA tournament after beating the Lady Hornets three times during the regular season. The Lady Blues will look to avenge last season’s loss as they again will face off with rival ESU, this time in the first round of the Tournament. Emporia (21-8, 13-5 MIAA) won their last five games, including the MIAA tournament, to get into the tournament. The No. 8-seeded Lady Hornets loss to the Lady Blues, 79-68, in the only meeting in Topeka this year.

The winner of WU/ESU will square off with the winner of the No. 4 Minnesota State and No. 5 Arkansas Tech game. Fellow MIAA foe, No. 2 Central Missouri, will face No. 7 Southwestern Oklahoma in the first round while No. 3 Concordia-St. Paul will face No. 6 Augustana. Winner of the Central region get a chance to advance to the Elite Eight at San Antonio, Tex.

All games will be played at Schendel Court at Lee Arena on Washburn University’s campus. Tipoff times are to be announced.